The Effects of the Vitamin E Isomers Gamma Tocopherol and Gamma Tocotrienol on the NFkB Pathway in the PC-3 Cell Line.

Regions along the Mediterranean and Southern Asia have lower prostate cancer incidence compared to the rest of the world. It has been hypothesized that one of the potential contributing factors for this low incidence includes a higher intake of vitamin E (tocopherols and tocotrienols). This study examines the potential of gamma tocopherol (GT) and gamma tocotrienol (GT3) to reduce prostate cancer proliferation by examining their effects on the NFκB pathway. NFκB is known to inhibit apoptosis in cancer cells. Our data shows that both GT and GT3 are capable of down regulation of NFκB precursors and up regulation of Caspase 8, indicating an induction of apoptosis